Frequency converter



July 13, 1954 D. BLITZ FREQUENCY CONVERTER Filed Nov. 50, 1949 Patented July 13, 1954 2983955 JED STATES 2,683,855 FREQUENCY CONVERTER Daniel Blitz, Boston, Mass., assigner to Raytheon Manufacturing Company, Newton, Mass., a corporation of Delaware Application November 30, 1949, Serial No. 130,239 Claims. (Cl. 321-60) rThis invention relates to apparatus for prois not reected by the reflector itself will be abducing changes in frequency and is particularsorbed, thereby preventing reiiection of unwantly useful in the microwave range where convened frequencies by other parts of the device. tional frequency converters are not usable due In addition, applicant provides a variable atto their failure to distinguish between frequencies 5 tenuating section in the wave guide prior to the which are close together. reflecting wheel whereby the proportional In the testing of devices utilizing reflected sigamount of energy reflected by the device may be nais, such as altimeters or radar equipment of controlled. the frequency-modulated, continuous-signal emis- Further, applicant has devised a polarized sion type, it is desirable to have a target which phase-shifting device which is positioned in the has a known attenuation. Furthermore, if the Wave guide in front of the reflecting wheel, the target is to be placed near the equipment to be net effect. of which is to maize the reflecting detested or the transmitter is unmodulated as in vice reiiect the same amount of energy irrespeca doppler detection radar, the target must create tive of the plane of polarization of the incident a frequency shift so that the returning wave will wave.

beat with the incident wave in the equipment to The particular details of a structure embodyproduce a signal which may be amplied and ing these advantageous results will now be demeasured. If the target amplitude modulates scribed, reference being had to the accompanying the reflected signal, both upper and lower sidedrawing wherein:

bands of the incident signal are returned to the Fig. 1 illustrates a longitudinal, cross-sectional equipment. 'Ihe result is extreme sensitivity of view of a structure embodying this invention the equipment being tested to the fractional wave taken along line l-| of Fig. 2;

length spacing .between the equipment and the Fig. 2 illustrates a transverse, cross-sectional target, the detected signal attenuating complete- View of the device shown in Fig. 1 taken along ly every quarter wave length. line 2 2 of Fig. l and illustrating the details of Applicant has devised a device which will act the reflecting wheel;

as an artificial target and produce a certain pre- Fig. 3 illustrates a cross-sectional view of the determined frequency shift in the reflected wave, device shown in Fig. 1 taken along line 3-3 of with all frequencies other than the particular Fig. l, showing the details of the variable attenushifted frequency being absorbed by the target. ator; and

This device is basically a reiiector comprising a Fig. l illustrates a transverse, cross-sectional rotating wheel having attached to the periphery View of the device shown in Fig. 1 taken along thereof a plurality of reflecting elements. The line 4 4 of Fig. l, illustrating the details of the wheel has its periphery inserted into a slot in phase shifter. a wave guide which comprises a signal transla- Referring now to Figs. 1 and 2, there is shown tion means, said slot being parallel to the axis of a wave guide structure l il capable of transmitting the wave guide such that the reflecting elements a wave in the TEoi mode and having a longitudimove axially along the wave guide. A wave nal slot Il therein. Slot il is positioned in the traveling down the wave guide will be reflected by Center' 0I" the 11131961 Wi Si Side Oi the Wave guide the reflecting elements which, by their movement 40 lil which, as shown here, is rectangular in form. relative to the wave guide, will produce a doppler Slot Il is positioned parallel to any flow of cureffect on the reflected wave. Since this doppler rent so that it has little elect on the transmiseffect is a continuously changing phase between sion properties of the TEM mode in structure lli. the incoming and renected wave, the net result Extending into slot l I is a disk wheel l2 which is a shift in the frequency of the reflected wave. may be made of any desired low-loss insulating The magnitude of the frequency shift will be promaterial such as, for example, polystyrene. Exportional to the speed of the rotating wheel. tending radially inwardly from the periphery of Applicant has further ascertained that, by powheel i2 is a plurality of metallic conductors i3.

sitioning material which has a high dielectric The elements i3 are spaced from adjacent eleconstant in the wave guide, the velocity of the ments by a distance substantially equal to a half Wave in the guide may be reduced with a rewave length of the frequency to be reflected, sultant increase in the frequency shift for a given The wave length has been shortened considerrotational speed of the wheel. ably from the air-filled guide wave length by in- Applicant further provides absorbing material serting in the Wave guide a block ifi of material behind the reflector whereby any energy which having a high dielectric constant. Block ill nlls the wave guide at the point where wheel l2 extends thereinto except for a narrow slot into which the wheel i2 nts. There is suicient clearance between the wheel i2, the slot ii and the slot in block lli to allow the wheel i2 to rotate freely. The wave length in an air-filled guide is greater than that of free space, but, since the dielectric constant of block M is high, the velocity of a wave propagated therethrough is substantially less than the velocity of a wave in free space. By way of example, a signal with a free space wave length of 3.0 centimeters will have a wave length of 3.9 centimeters in a wave guide 0.9 of an inch wide` Introducing a block made of a mixture of mica and fused glass and having a dielectric constant of '7.8 will reduce the Wave length in the guide to 1.1 centimeters. Wheel i?. is supported by a shaft l5 attached to a motor i6. As shown here, motor i6 is attached to a housing il which surrounds the portion of wheel l2 not in wave guide lli, housing Il, in turn, being attached to wave guide i@ by a plurality of clamping members i8. The axis of shaft i5 is perpendicular to the axis of wav-e guide lil and the periphery of wheel i2 which extends into wave guide l is substantially tangent to the axis of wave guide It. Since the elements i3 are spaced a half-wave length apart, they will cause 'eiections irom an incoming wave which Will be in phase7 and therefore will aid to reect a signal as if from a single reflecting element. As shown here the wheel i2 has a large number of conducting elements thereon, for example, e8 in number, so that there will always be several elements in the wave guide at any time, and therefore the entering or leaving of an element will cause substantially no change in the amplitude of the ren-ected signal.

The ends of the dielectric block it have been tapered to thereby reduce the impedance mismatch between the dielectric block and the wave guide. In order to absorb any energy which is not reilected by elements i3, a block of absorbing material it* is placed in the guide ib behind dielectric biock ifi. 1t has been round that a mixture of asbestos and Portland cement, known as Transita will absorb substantially all of the unreflected energy. The junction between the dielectric block ld and the Transite block it is tapered to further reduce impedance mismatch y between the two blocks whose impedances are already relatively well matched because their dielectric constants are or" the same order of magnitude. The wave guide behind absorbing block. i9 is terminated by a standard wave guide connector 2t having a plate 2l bolted thereto.

In order to vary the percentage of the incident wave in the wave guide which is reflected, a variable attenuator is placed in the wave guide in front of the dielectric block Iii and reiiecting wheel i2. The variable attenuator, shown here diagrammatically, comprises a section of wave guide 22 connected to wave guide ill by standard wave guide Jdange fittings 23. Inside wave guide section 22 there is positioned a body of absorbing material 2d. This body 2d., as shown here, comprises a sheet of insulating material, such as cardboard, covered with carbon. The sheet is positioned parallel to the shortest sides of the wave guide 22 and therefore is parallel to the electrostatic lines of a TEoi wave traveling down the guide. As shown here, the body 2li is supported on a pair of rods 25 which extends through the wave guide 22 perpendicular to the narrow sides thereof and slidably supported therein.

The body 24 is rigidly attached to the rods 25 so that, by movement of the rods 25, the position oi the body 24 may be varied from the center of the guide to the side thereof. Since the electrostatic lines are strongest in the center of the guide, attenuation will be greatest when the body 251 is positioned at that point, the attenuation being reduced as the body is moved toward the side of the guide. Thus it may be seen that by Calibrating the position of the body 20, in the guide 22 a wide range of calibrated attenuation of the reflected signal may be produced at will by moving rods 25.

In order to make the reflected signal insensitive to variations in the polarization of the incoming wave, applicant has devised a polarized phase-shifting device which will reflect the same relative magnitude of signal irrespective of the polarization of the incoming wave. This phase shiitel comprises a section of Wave guide 25 attached to the wave guide section E2 by standard flange connections 27. Wave guide 2t has a cross section which is substantially square with the width of the sides being substantially equal to the widest side of wave guide section 22. Wave guide section 26 is connected to wave guide 22 by a tapered section 28 wherein two ci the walls of the rectangular section are tapered inwardly until the dimension of the narrow side of the wave guide 22 is reached at the flange connections 2?. Positioned in square wave guide section 2E is a sheet of dielectric material 2d which may be, for example, polystyrene, whose plane is parallel to a diagonal of the square cross section of guide 26 and the axis of the guide. The length of polystyrene member 23 is such that the component of a wave which is parallel to the plane of sheet 29 will be retarded a quarter cycle more than the component of a wave which is perpendicular to sheet 2S during the time that both Waves pass down the wave guide through the region occupied by member 2B. A signal which is horizontally polarized, Ifor exampley upon traveling through phase-shifting sheet 2d, will have a component which is retarded and a con ponent which is unretarded, said components being at right angles to each other, with the result that the wave incident upon wave guide tapered section 2S will vary in polarization throughout all phases thereof, thereby constituting what is known as a circularly-polarized wave. As shown here, both elements 29 and 2s have tapered ends to reduce the mismatch between these elements and the guide. Since wave guide section 22' will transmit only vertically-polarized waves, only half of the power of the circularlypolarized wave will enter wave guide 22. The remainder of the energy is substantially snorted out by the tapered section 23. T n order to prevent an unduly large mismatch between the horizontally-polarized portions oi the wave and the tapered section 28 which might cause undesirable reiiections, a resistive load may be placed, if desired, in tapered section 2B, which will absorb horizontally-polarized energy. This load might be in the form of a resistive card parallel to wide sides of guide 22 or a resistive coating placed directly on the tapered sides of tapered member 2S. The vertically-polarized wave will travel down Wave guide 22, having a certain predetermined amount of attenuation dependent upon the position of member 261, and then be substantially reflected by the conducting members i3 of Wheel i2. This reected wave then travels baci; through guide 22 and is again attenuated S by the same predetermined proportional amount and enters the wave guide 26. Upon passing through phase-shifting member 29 it becomes again circularlv polarized. This wave then being radiated to the instrument to be tested is picked up by an antenna thereon having any polarization with the same intensity. Similarly, a wave of" any other polarization incident upon the phase-shifting member 2S will have, upon passing 'through phase-shifting member 29, a vertically-polarized component containing substantially half the power of the incident Wave, and the reflected wave shown repassing through phase shifter 3g will be radiated in circular polarized form, the instrument being tested receiving signals of an intensity independent of the instruments polarization. The phase shifter may be omitted when testing a device operating with circular polarization.

Connected to the input end of wave guide 26 is a radiating horn 30 shown here, by Way of eX- ample, as one means of coupling the reflecting device to an instrument to be tested. However, it is to be clearly understood that the device may be connected through to the instrument to be tested without being radiated through free space. Thus it may be seen that applicant has devised a reflecting device capable of producing a variably attenuated reflecting signal, the magnitude of which is independent of the plane of polarizat,

tion of the incident wave of the antenna structure of the instrument propagating and/or receiving the signal.

The amount by which the reflecting wheel l2 shifts the frequency of the incident wave is equal 1 to the number of half wave lengths per second that element I3 travels along the dielectric-filled guide. For example, if the Wheel is rotating at 200 R. P. S. and there are i8 conducting elements in the periphery thereof, spaced one half wave length apart in the dielectric-filled guide, each element travels .9600 half wave lengths per second and the frequency of the reflected wave will be shifted 9600 cycles per scond from the incident wave. the conducting elements I3 which are in the wave guide move in the same direction as the incident wave, the frequency will be shifted downward while, if the conducting elements move opposite to the direction of the incident wave, the frequency will be shifted upward. Since any energy which is not reflected by the pins I3 and thereby shifted in frequency is absorbed, only the shifted frequency is reradiated by the horn 30, thereby effectively separating the shifted frequency from the original frequency. Thus it may be seen that applicant has produced a polarization insensitive, frequency-converting device which is useful at microwave frequencies to simulate the doppler effect caused by an approaching or receding reflector.

This completes the description of the specific embodiment of the invention described herein. However, many modifications thereof will be apparent to persons skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention. For example, other supports for the movable reflectors may be used besides the rotating wheel such as, for example, a flexible belt, and frequency conversion may be obtained without the use of the phase shifter 29 and the attenuator 24. In addition, other shapes of wave guides than the rectangular ones shown may be used and other dielectrics besides the block i4 may be used to slow the wave or indeed the wave may be If the Wheel is rotated so that reflected without reducing its velocity. Therefore, applicant does not wish to be limited to the particular details of the embodiment of the invention disclosed herein except as defined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A frequency converter comprising a source of electrical signals, signal translation means coupled to said source, signal reflecting' means coupled to said translation means, said reflecting means comprising a plurality of spaced reflecting elements, adjacent elements of said reflecting means being separated with substantially nonren fleeting means by a distance equal to substantially a multiple of a half Wave length of the frequency of said signals in the medium containing said reflecting elements, and means for producing a continuous component of motion relative to said source of said reflecting means in a direction parallel to the direction of incidence of said signals on said reflecting means.

2. A frequency converter comprising a source of electrical signals, a wave guide coupled to said source, signal reflecting means coupled to said wave guide comprising a plurality of spaced refleeting elements, adjacent elements of said reflecting means being separated by a distance equal to substantially a multiple of a half wave length of the frequency of said signals in the medium containing said reflecting elements, means for substantially reducing the velocity of saidsignals in said Wave guide between said reflecting elements, and means for producing a continuous component of motion relative to said source of said reflecting means in a direction parallel to the direction of incidence of said signals on said reflecting means.

3. A frequency converter comprising a source of electrical signals, signal translation means coupled to said source, signal reflecting means coupled to said translation means comprising a plurality of spaced reflecting elements separated by a substantially nonreecting medium, adjacent elements of said reflecting means being separated by a distance equal to substantially a multiple of a half wave length of the frequency of said signals in the medium containing said reflecting elements, and an energy-absorbing medium associated with said reflecting means for absorbing unreilected energy.

4. A frequency converter comprising a source of electrical signals, a wave guide coupled to said source, signal reflecting means coupled to said wave guide, said reflecting means comprising a plurality of spaced reflecting elements, adjacent lenient-s of said reflecting means being separated by a distance equal to substantially a multiple of a half wave length of the frequency of said signals in the medium containing said reflecting elements, means for substantially reducing the velocity of said signals in said wave guide between said reflecting elements, an energy-absorbing medium associated with said reflecting means for absorbing unreected energy, and means for producing a continuous component of motion relative to said source of said reflecting means in a direction parallel to the direction of incidence of said signals on said reflecting means.

5. A frequency converter comprising a source of electrical signals, signal reflecting means comprising aplurality of reflecting elements, adjacent elements of said reecting means being separated by a distance equal to substantially a multiple of a half Wave length of the frequency of said signals in the medium containing said reecting elements, an attenuator and a polarized phase shifter interposed between said source and said reflecting means, means for substantially reducing the Wave length of said signals between said reecting elements and means for producing a continuous component of motion relative to said source of said reiecting means in a direction parallel to the direction of incidence of said signals on said reecting means.

Reierences Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,206,683 Wol July 2, 1940 2,398,606 Wang Apr. 16, 1946 2,400,777 Okress May 21, 1946 2,403,289 Korman July 2, 1946 8 Number Name Date 2,427,098 Keizer Sept. 9, 1947 2,430,568 Hershberger Nov. 11, 1947 2,491,542 Woodyard et al. Dec. 20, 1949 2,505,557 Lyman Apr. 25, 1950 2,542,185 Fox Feb. 20, 1951 2,602,857 Hewitt July 8, 1952 2,611,087 Alford Sept. 16, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 605,300 Great Britain July 20, 1948 OTHER REFERENCES Publication I, Microwave Transmission Cirl' cuits, edited by Bagan, Radiation Laboratory Series, vol. 9, published by McGraw-Hill. Pages 372 and 514 relied on. Copy in Div. 69. 

